Macdara Ferris reports from the Aviva Stadium
Heimir Hallgrímsson handed Evan Ferguson a start on Sunday evening and the Ireland manager was rewarded with the striker scoring a crucial equaliser on night in Ireland’s win in the UEFA Nations League B/C promotion/relegation play-off.
For the second game running against Bulgaria, the Republic of Ireland came from behind, with substitute Adam Idah adding to Ferguson’s goal to get the winner on the night.
It has been a frustrating situation for Ferguson at club level – with limited game time on loan at West Ham United - and he did address this when he spoke to the media after the match.
“Everyone wants to play and when you aren’t there is frustration,” said Ferguson. “There has been ups and downs. I’ve had more bad than good in recent times. I feel good, I’m in a good place and positive mentally and physically. For me it is good to be back out there, especially out in front of the home fans"
It was Ferguson's fifth goal from 20 Ireland internationals.
extratime.com asked the striker about bringing that international goal back to his club to press for more game time. “As a striker you want to score a goal and from this hopefully you look to gain momentum and get a rhythm going.”
With Idah getting the winner and Troy Parrott having a superb season with AZ, it does mean there is competition for places up top for Ireland. “The two boys have had really good seasons, playing a lot and scoring loads of goals so it is great to have that competition.”
Ireland didn’t let their heads drop by going a goal down and Ferguson said their recent experience against Bulgaria and Finland has helped.
“We’ve had a few games where we have gone into the break 1-0 down and we’ve been the better team. We played the better football. We’ve faced that a few times and we know to stay patient and not get frustrated.
“We worked on it in training,” said Ferguson about playing in the number 10 role behind Troy Parrott. “I’ve played there a bit for Ireland and me and Troy played well there.”
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— extratime.com (@extratime.com) 23 March 2025 at 21:51
About Macdara Ferris
Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile